


Playing Favorites

by Daniscats



Series: The Incredible Story of Captain Shepard and the Love that Saved the Galaxy! Drabbles and Misc [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:43:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11699553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniscats/pseuds/Daniscats
Summary: Spoiler Alert! This one-shot jumps ahead of my main story a little bit and as a result, there are revelations about what happens in my main story regarding the current arc. I don't think any of it will come as much of a surprise to my regular readers but I just wanted to give fair warning. If you want to be completely surprised about what happens next in TISOCSATLTSTG (I have never hated my title more;) then you might want to wait to read this one.PS: Even though I am trying to complete this month of fanfic challenge, I am still working on my main story and should have another chapter posted shortly. Thanks for reading.





	Playing Favorites

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler Alert! This one-shot jumps ahead of my main story a little bit and as a result, there are revelations about what happens in my main story regarding the current arc. I don't think any of it will come as much of a surprise to my regular readers but I just wanted to give fair warning. If you want to be completely surprised about what happens next in TISOCSATLTSTG (I have never hated my title more;) then you might want to wait to read this one. 
> 
> PS: Even though I am trying to complete this month of fanfic challenge, I am still working on my main story and should have another chapter posted shortly. Thanks for reading.

    Shepard broke the connection and immediately threw her head down on her desk. If speaking with an elcor in person was tedious, talking with one over the extranet was excruciating. She had been on the line for over an hour and she had only scheduled twenty minutes for the call. She lifted her head slightly only to see the tower of datapads in her 'to-do' pile. She put her head back down and closed her eyes. The better able to hear her stomach growling. She lifted her head completely, looked at the clock on her terminal and then brought up her schedule. Twenty minutes. She had twenty minutes to eat lunch before she was expected to meet with the other Counselors.

    She opened her desk drawer, took out the bag there and opened it, revealing a hastily thrown-together cheese sandwich. _Gee, thanks honey. I love you too_ , Shepard thought bitterly. But she knew the thought was unfair. With three small children and now a baby, it was a miracle that Liara remembered to make a sandwich for her at all. She should be grateful that it wasn't just a hunk of cheese thrown in the bag.

    Coffee. If she was going to be able to get this sandwich down and survive the rest of the day, she would need more coffee. One of the first things she bought for her new office was a coffee brewing machine. One that actually brewed real coffee instead of dispensing coffee-flavored water. She went to it now and pushed the button. Luckily there was enough left over to fill her cup right to the brim. Her 'Number 1 Dad' coffee cup given to her by her daughters.  

    She carefully put the coffee down next to her sandwich and moved around the desk to sit down again. She bumped the desk as she rounded the corner which caused the tottering stack of datapads to spill across her desk. She was almost fast enough to pick up the coffee cup again before the datapads slammed into it. Almost but not quite. Not that it mattered because grabbing the cup and moving it so quickly had the same effect. Some of the coffee spilled over the top of the cup and soaked into her sandwich with more spilling across her desk.

    "Son of a...Goddammit!"  

    She reached for the napkin that had been thrown in the bag with her sandwich and tried to contain the spread before it reached the datapads. She managed to soak most of it up before the napkin became completely saturated. She threw the sopping napkin in her trash and looked around trying to find another napkin or any bit of cloth to dry her hands and the rest of the desk. Note to self: some goddamn napkins or tissues or something might be a nice addition for her office.

    She ran to her small restroom and washed her hands. She brought the towel back to her desk and used it to clean the rest of the coffee. It was then that Oriana Lawson came into her office carrying still more datapads. She frowned as she saw the toppled pile and started straightening. She gave up on trying to create a single stack and made two instead, adding the new datapads to one of the piles.

    "I know you have a meeting in fifteen minutes but you have some people outside waiting to see you." Oriana smiled. "They say they won't leave until they have an audience with you."

    "Too bad. If they aren't on the schedule, they will just have to wait."

    "It's three asari, Shep, and they say they are Earth citizens and therefore, they are your constituents and that they have the right to talk to their Councilor."

    "Asari?", Shepard asked confused. It was not unusual for asari to have dual citizenship now but usually, they petitioned her through the asari embassy.

    "Yes." Oriana started chuckling. "It's your daughters, Shepard. I think you better see them."

    Shepard sighed. _Why were the kids here_? She just saw them at breakfast  and would be seeing them again in a few hours if she ever got out of here.   

    "Okay. Let them in, I guess."

    A moment later, Jacey and Benezia entered the door and slowly walked towards her desk, unsmiling. Edi had obviously not been briefed well enough as she ran forward and yelled "Hi Daddy!" before being physically restrained by her two older sisters. Now the two older asari stood before her desk at parade rest, their expressions still somber, their hands clasped behind their backs as their younger sister stood between them and tried to mimic their stance.

    "Can I help you, Earth citizens?", Shepard asked trying to remain patient.

    Jacey was the first to speak.

    "We are here to discuss a serious matter that has come to our attention."

    "A very serious matter", Benezia added.

    "Okay. What very serious matter has come to your attention? Since breakfast."

    "I was discussing your previous statements with my colleagues here", Jacey nodded towards her sisters, "and we have discovered a discrepancy."

    "Spill it, Jacey. I have a meeting with the other Counselors in fifteen minutes."

    "You have made a series of contradictory statements to each of us and we are here to demand a clarification."

    "Yeah, Daddy", Benezia blurted out, "I thought *I* was your favorite? Why did you tell both Jacey and Edi that *they* are your favorite?"  

    Shepard let out a breath. She knew that that particular 'parenting tool' was going to come back to haunt her. She just hoped it would be later. Much later. After they were bonded and had children of their own. And she was likely dead.

    "You are my favorites."

    For the first time, Jacey's face showed some irritation. "That does not make sense. You can't have more than one favorite!"

    "Yeah, I'm your real favorite, right Daddy?", Benezia asked.

    "Who said I can't have more than one favorite?"

    "Because that is what the word means!", Jacey answered. She brought up her omni-tool and read from it. "It says right here. The definition of favorite is 'preferred before all others of the same kind'. That means *one* that is preferred before all others of the same kind."

    "I don't agree with that definition." Shepard thought of an analogy. "Okay, let me ask you girls a question. What's my favorite flavor of ice cream?"

    "Strawberry like me!", Benezia declared.

    "No, it isn't.", Jacey responded. "She likes chocolate peanut butter cup. She eats it all the time."

    "Not as much as strawberry!"

    "Chewee!", Edi yelled.

    "The truth is, they are all my favorite. I love them all and could never pick just one as my favorite. Now, if I feel that way about something as unimportant as ice cream, do you really think I could choose a favorite daughter when all my daughters are beautiful and smart and funny and kind?"

     "Ice cream is not unimportant. Ice cream is very important", Bene objected.

    Jacey's objection was more fundamental. "That's a cop-out! You just don't want to tell us the truth. You don't want to hurt our feelings."

    Shepard smiled. She had been accused of worst things as Councilor, just today alone. She decided to take another tack.

    "Okay, Jacey. Tell me, is history your favorite class?"

    "I love history!" Jacey's eyes lit up. "It's so fascinating to learn about the different species and how they got to where they are now. It _is_ my favorite!"

    "More than math?"

    Jacey hesitated. "I do love math. I can't explain it but it's so exciting when I get a really hard problem and I figure it out. It's like everything makes sense for that one moment. And science! I love science. I want to know how everything works!"

    Benezia rolled her eyes and whispered "Supernerd!" under her breath.

    "Shut up, Benezia. You're not supposed to call me that."

    "Why not? Daddy calls Mommy that sometimes."

    "And Mommy calls Daddy idiot sometimes too but you aren't supposed to say that either because it's rude."

    Shepard frowned. _Wait, what? Does Liara really call me idiot sometimes? In front of the kids? Never mind that now..._

"And Benezia", Shepard interrupted before the argument escalated. "What's your favorite class?"

    "Biotics!" Benezia answered without hesitation.

    _Okay, bad example_ , Shepard thought. There was no doubt in her mind that biotics was far and away Benezia's favorite class.

    "Okay, never mind classes. What's your favorite adventure comic?"

    "Wonder Woman!" Benezia put her fists on her hips in an action pose.

    "Not Biotic Princess? And what's that other one? The one about the turian captain?"  

    "Actana Maldas Explores the Galaxy!" Benezia took on another action pose. Edi followed her sister in posing and started making some sound effects as well.

    "And which is your favorite, Bene?"

    Benezia dropped out her action pose and got a thoughtful look on her face.

    "I don't know. They are all really, really good. Biotic Princess? No, Wonder Woman!"

    "You see!", Shepard reasoned. "Lots of people have more than one favorite with lots of things. And you, Edi. What's your favorite dessert? Chocolate cake or ice cream?"

    "Both!", Edi answered with a huge smile on her face. "They go together."

    "Jacey?" Shepard addressed her eldest daughter. "Do you see my point here?"

    Jacey thought about it for a moment. "I concede your point, Councilor."

    That was likely the only debate she would win on the job this week, Shepard mused. She looked at the time and suddenly realized something. It was after lunch and she had about two minutes before her meeting. It was after everyone's lunch.

    "Shouldn't you girls get back to school? Lunch has to be long over by now."

    Jacey shrugged. "We didn't have lunch today. It's a half day at school. We were bored so we decided to come see you to discuss this important issue because we didn't have enough credits to go do anything fun."

    "I see." Shepard looked down at her soggy sandwich and her now cold coffee. She stood up and called out to Oriana though the open door.

    "Oriana! Tell the other Councilors that I can't make the meeting. I have to take my favorite daughters out to lunch."

    Oriana met them as they neared the door.

    "What do I tell them? And what about all those datapads that need your attention?"

   "Tell them whatever. Priorities, Ori! And don't worry. I'll be back and I'll work late until at least a quarter of them have been taken care of."

    "Half. You will only get more tomorrow. And I'll be waiting here to make sure you come back and the work gets done."

    "Slave driver!" Shepard responded with a smile before asking her girls. "What's your favorite place to eat, girls?"

    It was no surprise when she received six different answers from the three different girls. As they left to go eat wherever, Benezia asked another question.

    "Daddy?", Benezia asked, "Now, *we* are your favorite daughters and little Elpia is out of this, right?"

    Shepard thought it best not to respond.


End file.
